A/N: this is a little fic about a missing scene from the movie. No, no, I am not criticising it at all. Peter Jackson did an utterly fantastic job. Watching it again, though, I was struck by Pippin's reaction after the Fellowship lost Gandalf in Moria. Here is my interpretation of what was going through his mind and how others may have tried to comfort him. Any slash is in your own mind ;) Oh, and anything Tolkien/Lord of the Rings is not mine. Just using a couple of characters is all.
Pippin's Lament
Why? Why was I so stupid? I knew how important this trip was, this quest. But I had to go snooping around, poking my nose where it had no business poking.
And now Gandalf's dead. And it's all my fault!
Merry is trying to help me, but he's sad, too. He should be furious with me. If I hadn't gone over to that skeleton, hadn't just wanted to touch it, hadn't wanted to know what it felt like, then Gandalf would be here now telling me to carry on and not be so Tookish.
But he isn't. The tears came harder.
"Gandalf!" I cried. "I am so sorry."
"Shhh," Merry's voice called. "It's not your fault, Pip."
I sniffled back a bigger sob. "It is," I squeaked. "If I hadn't been so..."
"Here now." He sat me upright. "I'll have none of this." His strong hands gripped my cowardly shoulders. "Mister Gandalf knew what he was getting into. We all did."
"But..."
He raised his hand. "No but's. You're not to blame." He looked me straight in the eye. "Understand?"
I meekly nodded. I remained unconvinced, though. "Maybe I should go back before another of us is...is..." Another burst of tears came forth.
"Pippin. Pippin." Merry brought me close. "We are all in this together. We are the Fellowship of the Ring."
"Come," Legolas's voice called behind me. "Merry. Pippin."
I pulled away, hastily rubbing my eyes. Merry smiled weakly at me. "There's a stout Hobbit. Show em what we're made of, eh cousin?"
I tried to return the smile, but I couldn't. Gandalf was still dead. My hope was dying, too.
